Tahiti & in-between

So now begins the real journey...

As we just arrived a couple days ago via Tahiti, I thought I'd stick with "Trebuchet" font, something I am sure you all want to know...I've never been much on fancy scribing here, but I've also decided to use various colours, or should I now say 'colors' to keep myself amused.

Taking a few days layover from New Zealand on the way here made so much sense in so many ways: 1) We were able to see friends. 2) We were able to save $ to a destination that we may never have afforded being able to check out. 3) We were able to break up a 12-13 hour airtrip, which almost made it bearable.

Believe it or not, Moorea, the island on which this photo was taken, is NOT a national park...

As being resourceful is going to become ever more important in our changing world, it is a good thing to take advantage or any way possible to make things possible.  If you have never been to Tahiti, do stop!  The people were friendly, and the scenery is incredible.  We were able to use our 'carry-on' tent (I really do think that we brought everything but the kitchen sink with us on the trip.) to make a one day stopover on Moorea, a national park in its own right.  I'll try to include some pictures once I have access to a computer in Denver where I'm going next to visit family members to add to this post.

Sleeping was a challenge in the warm/hot temps and especially the humidity.  That being said, the rest (and some great French cooking!) we experienced with our travel network hosts, Gerard and his friend Stefan, and the warmth of spending scattered hours with our New Zealand friends, Olivier and Erica, made it all a real, much needed break on our way back to the intensity of the USA. 

Part of the wonder of our time spent Down Under was all of the places we were able to travel to and explore.  During our six years there, we made 5 travel circuits throughout New Zealand, with many more trips to Northland and to the Coromandel, we went to Australia twice, we travelled to Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, and finally through Tahiti back to the States.  There isn't a place I WOULDN'T recommend which we visited...and we will return--remember, that is a promise and not a threat!

Two weeks and counting...

So, first let me try some "Trebuchet" on you...no, that's not green, it's the font, must be French.

You see, this is my opportunity to just let go--although hopefully at not too much expense to you.  This blog is also my diary of our upcoming journey, and I want to tell you a little bit more about what we're leaving behind.

  Presently, I work for CCS Disability Action, an organisation that works with people with disabilities to help them have an ordinary life.  That means all the opportunities that we all take for granted on a daily basis.  My place in all of this has been to oversee the development of the community gardens here and the ongoing programmes associated with work reflecting our organisational (That's organizational for all of you Americans reading this.) values and mission.  I have to say that I have truly enjoyed the process and have learned and experienced so much in my 5 1/2+ years working here.  To say that I will miss my colleagues and the folks with whom I have associated and gardened with is a true understatement.  It's part of what has prepared me for the upcoming journey.

As many of you who know me who are reading this realise (another 's' instead of 'zed'), organics is not part of my background or education; whereas ornamental gardening has been my main area of experience and expertise.  That being said, with the feedback I'm getting back from Master Gardeners in the States, it appears that we are all moving organically forward--and for good reason! 

Organics & permaculture (read: 'permanent agriculture') will be a large part of the foundation of what we are planning going forward at Cloudplay.  In this day and age, if you are not looking at logical and resourceful ways of producing at least some of your own food, well, you may well be paying exorbitant prices for such neglect and what you eat in the future!

So quickly, back to the present...2 more weeks and we'll be saying 'goodbye' to this land we love (If there is a more beautiful country than New Zealand in the world, we'll put that next on our list as a 'must-see'!).  Given the increasing (and future skyrocketing) costs of travel, it may be some time before we return.  All of the last-minute details to take care and the many people to see before we're off may make for a few shorter entries, but my goal is to keep us all informed of the journey.

what's in a name???



How many words?

 so.........

WHY

Cloudplay?

Calling all Wwoofers!!!

AND SO HERE (and WHO) WE ARE--especially if you have any WWOOFER tendencies...:

Welcome to Curry County, known as Oregon’s “Banana Belt” and to our retreat we call “Cloudplay”!  It is truly magic!  What makes it so is the amount and types of wildlife among which we live and the cloud formations that temporarily make their homes above—or on—the top of our hill. 

We are located six miles (10km) as the crow flies from the coast…as far as I am aware, we are the only Oregon Wwoofer location with an ocean view at the front or our property.  Our location is in the Siskiyous, a rugged mountain range located in southern Oregon and northern California.  Our altitude of 500 meters means that we’re much warmer than the coast in summer and a bit cooler in winter—although with much less fog!  As of July, we will be returning from New Zealand to make a go of what is possible here.  Maybe you might have some ideas.

Which means we will have lots to do.  Although our hearts may be in the clouds, our feet are definitely grounded and we are fairly practical guys.  Firstly, before we pursue any of the other ideas we have, we will need to establish our food source, which gives growing organically a very concrete meaning.  So, here are the details…

We need folks who can commit at least one week to some hard work.  We will put together a good, hearty lunch which will include meat at least every other day.  You will create your own breakfast (mostly toast, muesli, fruit, pancakes, etc. with clean up) and prepare your own dinners from our pantry as well.  We plan on working mornings from 8:30 or 9AM for 4 hours up to lunch, and then the rest of the day is yours.  If there is rain or inclimate weather, we can adjust days accordingly.

We’ll provide a comfortable bed-sized couch, sheets, pillows, and blankets.  You’ll be staying in a semi-private room in our house, or if you prefer, in a good-sized tent with an air mattress.  We speak English and Spanish (if my partner is on site).  We will be able to provide transport from Gold Beach and possibly Brookings to get you to our place, but it will be best for you if you have your own transport so that you can take advantage of all the hiking opportunities and ocean walks in the afternoons.

We may also be doing light construction work to create some ‘glamping’ kind of sites as well as increasing our infrastructure.  Mostly, we need to develop the areas where we will grow vegetables.  At this point, we cannot accommodate kids or pets.  We can provide room for two people.  Couples are ideal.  Although we get much more sun than most coastal sites, you will need your own boots and raingear.  We’ll provide working gloves.  Our email is cloudplayoregon@yahoo.com .  Our blog—just hot off of the blogosphere—is http://cloudplay.blogspot.co.nz/

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Well, make that mountain lions, and wolves, and bears, and you'll be close to seeing what we're up against in the future--and that's only the large carnivores--and there's going to be a full food-chain involved along the way! Actually, the wolves have only made it to the Umpqua River which serves a large watershed not too far north of us.

Critters of almost every description abound.  And there are many more carnivores involved: coyotes, bobcats, lynx, skunks, martens, civet cats, various snakes, you name it, they're lurking.  Then there's the large herbivores which include elk and deer.  The elk, especially can be very destructive, very quickly, as a number of the plants in the arboretum have learned.  We've also had the occasional horse wander up to our land.  And there are many other smaller leaf-eaters, including rabbits, of course, as well as the sneakier ones chomping roots and the like including ground squirrels and boomers--also known as mountain beavers, so you can imagine what they might do...any seedling is at risk for being chiseled at the base and being dragged down into one of many holes in the ground.

And the bird-life is amazing!  Wild turkeys are the largest, but there are the many birds of the forest, including spotted owls (which are on the endangered list) owls, and blue jays.  There are those who hover above our grassland looking for small mammals like kestrels and those that swoop like hawks, owls, and the occasional eagle.  There are those very common robins and crows, with not-so-common ravens which also make their homes around and about.  And there are even flying squirrels! (So we've heard from the folks who were caretaking our place up until recent.).

So, why start off with such a long list of animalia???
Firstly, it's what makes the place magical.
Secondly, it's what will most likely make for our biggest organic challenge.  It would be nice just to have a telepathic agreement to leave the veges alone and totally for us, but somehow, I think that may be a little naive.
Thirdly, it's why this place is meant to be shared...so how can we "behave as if the god in every creature mattered"?  This looks to be the question that will unfold and make for very interesting future endeavour (Notice, I'm still spelling in Kiwi as that is from where I presently sit and type.).

It's also important to note just how amazing the plant life is, but that's for another entry, another day...after all, I don't want you to be scared away my first go!